Prime Minister Edi Rama stated today that the Albanian Parliament is the institution capable of uniting all others around the mission of fast-tracking the country’s integration into the EU. He emphasized that the Parliament can ensure that the citizens of the Republic of Albania, whom all these institutions serve, are guaranteed that no institution will betray them in their expectation of seeing Albania as a full EU member.
“We have no time to waste or wait for those who have a different agenda and plan, and who are not interested in membership, perhaps simply because they want to handle it themselves. Regarding the time and the fundamental reason for the creation of the Anti-Corruption Commission, in its 700 pages of analysis, there is not a single word about the judiciary and the judicial power. I tell you that for Albania to join the EU, it needs to perform with the same speed, conviction, and efficiency,” said Rama during the high-level meeting “Albania 2030 in the EU – The Path of Reforms.”
“The government of the Republic of Albania cannot explain why it did not do this. However, at the negotiation table, the EU does not negotiate with the government, but with Albania. The government has its part, but the question arises: Which institution in this Republic can gather everyone around this mission and ensure that the citizens of the Republic of Albania, to whom all these institutions serve, are guaranteed that no institution will betray their expectations of seeing Albania as an EU member? There is only one institution, and no other, and that is the Albanian Parliament, which, by its constitutional nature, is the only institution that has the right and duty to summon everyone, even ask for accounts, pass resolutions, raise issues, make claims, and demand accountability. This is the institution that can guarantee that the process is harmonized, transparent, and that there is accountability across all institutions,” he stated.
Rama emphasized the need for coordination among institutions.
“If we want the 855 measures related to the rule of law, where 59% of the tasks belong to the judiciary and the justice institutions, to be successfully implemented by the Republic of Albania, this is not up for debate. But everyone must agree that we need to coordinate and harmonize the activities of the Albanian state so that our progress toward concluding negotiations is uniform,” he added.
He further stressed today that “the work of the Special Parliamentary Committee ‘For Deepening Reforms for Good Governance, Rule of Law, and Anti-Corruption for Albania 2030 in the European Union,’ is fundamental and must be supported with all efforts to move its work forward.”
“However, we must transform this committee into a permanent mechanism of the Parliament to oversee the entire process until the moment of EU membership,” said Rama at the high-level meeting “Albania 2030 in the EU – The Path of Reforms,” organized by the Albanian Parliament.
The head of government expressed that “to make it possible for the mechanisms involved in this process to perform to the height of the ambition we have declared, which is ‘Albania in the EU by 2030,’ otherwise, we will not achieve this. It is impossible.”
“The volume of tasks to be completed is enormous, and the EU does not give anything for free. It doesn’t make concessions when it comes to the standards and criteria that a country must meet. There is no geopolitics, no war, or any kind of crisis that could make the EU say, ‘Let’s close our eyes to these things.’ This is so true that even Ukraine, which has all this massive support, when it comes to the steps to become an EU member, will follow every step, and will not become an EU member until it meets all the EU standards and criteria,” Rama concluded.
